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倒打一耙

dàodǎyīpá
idiom

Meanings

  1. 1 to counterattack with false accusations
  2. 2 to turn the tables on the victim
  3. 3 to blame the accuser

Examples

他做错了事，反而倒打一耙，怪别人。
Tā zuò cuòle shì, fǎn'ér dàodǎyīpá, guài biérén.
He did it wrong and then turned it around and blamed someone else.
不要倒打一耙，自己的责任自己担。
Bùyào dàodǎyīpá, zìjǐ de zérèn zìjǐ dān.
Don't turn the blame around — take responsibility for your own actions.

Tips

culture
Image comes from 《西游记》: Pigsy (猪八戒) fights with a nine-toothed rake (钉耙), and one of his signature moves is spinning around to strike behind him — the 'reverse rake'.
usage
Always negative and accusatory. The speaker is calling out dishonest behavior, not describing a neutral counterattack.

In Pop Culture

猪八戒 Zhū Bājiè
Pigsy
The phrase is almost always linked back to Pigsy in 《西游记》 (Journey to the West); the common saying 猪八戒倒打一耙 (shortened to 倒打一耙) is the direct source.

Stroke Order

倒 dào
打 dǎ
一 yī
耙 pá